DNA content variation and its significance in the evolution of the genus Micrasterias (Desmidiales, Streptophyta)

Unveiling Nature's Architecture: Geometric Morphometrics as an Analytical Tool in Plant Biology

Geometric morphometrics (GMM) is an advanced morphometric method enabling quantitative analysis of shape and size variations in biological structures. Through high-resolution imaging and mathematical algorithms, GMM provides valuable insights into taxonomy, ecology, and evolution, making it increasingly relevant in plant science. This review synthesizes the existing literature and explores methodological details, research questions, and future directions, establishing a strong foundation for further study in plant biology. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a rigorous literature search finally identified 83 studies for review. The review organized data on plant species, organs studied, GMM objectives, and methodological aspects, such as imaging and landmark positioning. Leaf and flower structures emerged as the most frequently analyzed organs, primarily in studies of shape variations. This review assesses the use of GMM in plant sciences, identifying knowledge gaps and inconsistencies, and suggesting areas for future research. By highlighting unaddressed topics and emerging trends, the review aims to guide researchers towards methodological challenges and innovations necessary for advancing the field.

Diversity of genome size and chromosome number in homothallic and heterothallic strains of the Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale complex (Desmidiales, Zygnematophyceae, Streptophyta)

The evolutionary transitions of mating systems between outcrossing and self-fertilization are often suggested to associate with the cytological and genomic changes, but the empirical reports are limited in multicellular organisms. Here we used the unicellular zygnematophycean algae, the Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale (C. psl.) complex, to address whether genomic properties such as genome sizes and chromosome numbers are associated with mating system transitions between homothallism (self-fertility) and heterothallism (self-sterility). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the polyphyly of homothallic strains, suggesting multiple transitions between homothallism and heterothallism in the C. psl. complex. Flow cytometry analysis identified a more than 2-fold genome size variation, ranging from 0.53 to 1.42 Gbp, which was positively correlated with chromosome number variation between strains. Although we did not find consistent trends in genome size change and mating system transitions, the mean chromosome sizes tend to be smaller in homothallic strains than in their relative heterothallic strains. This result suggests that homothallic strains possibly have more fragmented chromosomes, which is consistent with the argument that self-fertilizing populations may tolerate more chromosomal rearrangements.

Extensive Copy Number Variation Explains Genome Size Variation in the Unicellular Zygnematophycean Alga, Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale Complex

Genome sizes are known to vary within and among closely related species, but the knowledge about genomic factors contributing to the variation and their impacts on gene functions is limited to only a small number of species. This study identified a more than 2-fold heritable genome size variation among the unicellular Zygnematophycean alga, Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale (C. psl.) complex, based on short-read sequencing analysis of 22 natural strains and F1 segregation analysis. Six de novo assembled genomes revealed that genome size variation is largely attributable to genome-wide copy number variation (CNV) among strains rather than mating type-linked genomic regions or specific repeat sequences such as rDNA. Notably, about 30% of genes showed CNV even between strains that can mate with each other. Transcriptome and gene ontology analysis demonstrated that CNV is distributed nonrandomly in terms of gene functions, such that CNV was more often observed in the gene set with stage-specific expression. Furthermore, in about 30% of these genes with CNV, the expression level does not increase proportionally with the gene copy number, suggesting presence of dosage compensation, which was overrepresented in genes involved in basic biological functions, such as translation. Nonrandom patterns in gene duplications and corresponding expression changes in terms of gene functions may contribute to maintaining the high level of CNV associated with extensive genome size variation in the C. psl. complex, despite its possible detrimental effects.

Speciation across the Tree of Life

Much of what we know about speciation comes from detailed studies of well-known model systems. Although there have been several important syntheses on speciation, few (if any) have explicitly compared speciation among major groups across the Tree of Life. Here, we synthesize and compare what is known about key aspects of speciation across taxa, including bacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and major animal groups. We focus on three main questions. Is allopatric speciation predominant across groups? How common is ecological divergence of sister species (a requirement for ecological speciation), and on what niche axes do species diverge in each group? What are the reproductive isolating barriers in each group? Our review suggests the following patterns. (i) Based on our survey and projected species numbers, the most frequent speciation process across the Tree of Life may be co-speciation between endosymbiotic bacteria and their insect hosts. (ii) Allopatric speciation appears to be present in all major groups, and may be the most common mode in both animals and plants, based on non-overlapping ranges of sister species. (iii) Full sympatry of sister species is also widespread, and may be more common in fungi than allopatry. (iv) Full sympatry of sister species is more common in some marine animals than in terrestrial and freshwater ones. (v) Ecological divergence of sister species is widespread in all groups, including ~70% of surveyed species pairs of plants and insects. (vi) Major axes of ecological divergence involve species interactions (e.g. host-switching) and habitat divergence. (vii) Prezygotic isolation appears to be generally more widespread and important than postzygotic isolation. (viii) Rates of diversification (and presumably speciation) are strikingly different across groups, with the fastest rates in plants, and successively slower rates in animals, fungi, and protists, with the slowest rates in prokaryotes. Overall, our study represents an initial step towards understanding general patterns in speciation across all organisms.

Detection of ploidy and chromosomal aberrations in commercial oil palm using high-throughput SNP markers

Karyotyping using high-density genome-wide SNP markers identified various chromosomal aberrations in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) with supporting evidence from the 2C DNA content measurements (determined using FCM) and chromosome counts. Oil palm produces a quarter of the world's total vegetable oil. In line with its global importance, an initiative to sequence the oil palm genome was carried out successfully, producing huge amounts of sequence information, allowing SNP discovery. High-capacity SNP genotyping platforms have been widely used for marker-trait association studies in oil palm. Besides genotyping, a SNP array is also an attractive tool for understanding aberrations in chromosome inheritance. Exploiting this, the present study utilized chromosome-wide SNP allelic distributions to determine the ploidy composition of over 1,000 oil palms from a commercial F₁ family, including 197 derived from twin-embryo seeds. Our method consisted of an inspection of the allelic intensity ratio using SNP markers. For palms with a shifted or abnormal distribution ratio, the SNP allelic frequencies were plotted along the pseudo-chromosomes. This method proved to be efficient in identifying whole genome duplication (triploids) and aneuploidy. We also detected several loss of heterozygosity regions which may indicate small chromosomal deletions and/or inheritance of identical by descent regions from both parents. The SNP analysis was validated by flow cytometry and chromosome counts. The triploids were all derived from twin-embryo seeds. This is the first report on the efficiency and reliability of SNP array data for karyotyping oil palm chromosomes, as an alternative to the conventional cytogenetic technique. Information on the ploidy composition and chromosomal structural variation can help to better understand the genetic makeup of samples and lead to a more robust interpretation of the genomic data in marker-trait association analyses.

Substantial intraspecific genome size variation in golden-brown algae and its phenotypic consequences

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

While nuclear DNA content variation and its phenotypic consequences have been well described for animals, vascular plants and macroalgae, much less about this topic is known regarding unicellular algae and protists in general. The dearth of data is especially pronounced when it comes to intraspecific genome size variation. This study attempts to investigate the extent of intraspecific variability in genome size and its adaptive consequences in a microalgal species.

METHODS

Propidium iodide flow cytometry was used to estimate the absolute genome size of 131 strains (isolates) of the golden-brown alga Synura petersenii (Chrysophyceae, Stramenopiles), identified by identical internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA barcodes. Cell size, growth rate and genomic GC content were further assessed on a sub-set of strains. Geographic location of 67 sampling sites across the Northern hemisphere was used to extract climatic database data and to evaluate the ecogeographical distribution of genome size diversity.

KEY RESULTS

Genome size ranged continuously from 0.97 to 2.02 pg of DNA across the investigated strains. The genome size was positively associated with cell size and negatively associated with growth rate. Bioclim variables were not correlated with genome size variation. No clear trends in the geographical distribution of strains of a particular genome size were detected, and strains of different genome size occasionally coexisted at the same locality. Genomic GC content was significantly associated only with genome size via a quadratic relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Genome size variability in S. petersenii was probably triggered by an evolutionary mechanism operating via gradual changes in genome size accompanied by changes in genomic GC content, such as, for example, proliferation of transposable elements. The variation was reflected in cell size and relative growth rate, possibly with adaptive consequences.

Symmetry breaking of the cellular lobes closely relates to phylogenetic structure within green microalgae of the Micrasterias lineage (Zygnematophyceae)

Green microalgae of the Micrasterias lineage are unicellular microorganisms with modular morphology consisting of successively differentiated lobes. Due to their morphological diversity and peculiar morphogenesis, these species are important model systems for studies of cytomorphogenesis and cellular plasticity. Interestingly, the phylogenetic structure of the Micrasterias lineage and most other Desmidiales is poorly related to the traditional morphological characters used for delimitation of taxa. In this study, we focused on symmetry breaking between adjacent cellular lobes in relation to phylogeny of the studied species. While pronounced morphological asymmetry between the adjacent lobes is typical for some species, others have been characterized by the almost identical morphologies of these structures. We asked whether there is any detectable average shape asymmetry between the pairs of lobes and terminal lobules in 19 Micrasterias species representing all major clades of this desmidiacean lineage. Then, we evaluated whether the asymmetric patterns among species are phylogenetically structured. The analyses showed that the phylogeny was in fact strongly related to the patterns of morphological asymmetry between the adjacent cellular lobes. Thus, evolution of the asymmetric development between the adjacent lobes proved to be the key event differentiating cellular shape patterns of Micrasterias. Conversely, the phylogeny was only weakly related to asymmetry between the pairs of terminal lobules. The subsequent analyses of the phylogenetic morphological integration showed that individual hierarchical levels of cellular morphology were only weakly coordinated with regard to asymmetric variation among species. This finding indicates that evolutionary differentiation of morphogenetic processes leading to symmetry breaking may be relatively independent at different branching levels. Such modularity is probably the key to the evolvability of cellular shapes, leading to the extraordinary morphological diversity of these intriguing microalgae.

Photosynthetic efficiency, desiccation tolerance and ultrastructure in two phylogenetically distinct strains of alpine Zygnema sp. (Zygnematophyceae, Streptophyta): role of pre-akinete formation

Two newly isolated strains of green algae from alpine regions were compared physiologically at different culture ages (1, 6, 9 and 15 months). The strains of Zygnema sp. were from different altitudes ('Saalach' (S), 440 m above sea level (a.s.l.), SAG 2419 and 'Elmau-Alm' (E-A), 1,500 m a.s.l., SAG 2418). Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequences grouped the strains into different major subclades of the genus. The mean diameters of the cells were 23.2 μm (Zygnema S) and 18.7 μm (Zygnema E-A) but were reduced significantly with culture age. The photophysiological response between the strains differed significantly; Zygnema S had a maximal relative electron transport rate (rETR max) of 103.4 μmol electrons m(-2) s(-1), Zygnema E-A only 61.7 μmol electrons m(-2) s(-1), and decreased significantly with culture age. Both strains showed a low-light adaption and the absence of strong photoinhibition up to 2,000 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1). Photosynthetic oxygen production showed similar results (P max Zygnema S, 527.2 μmol O2 h(-1) mg(-1) chlorophyll (chl.) a, Zygnema E-A, 390.7 μmol O2 h(-1) mg(-1) chl. a); the temperature optimum was at 35 °C for Zygnema S and 30 °C for Zygnema E-A. Increasing culture age moreover leads to the formation of pre-akinetes, which accumulate storage products as revealed by light and transmission electron microscopy. Desiccation at 84 % relative air humidity (RH) lead to a reduction of the effective quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) (ΔFv/Fm') to zero between 90 to 120 min (Zygnema S) and between 30 to 60 min (Zygnema E-A), depending on the culture age. A partial recovery of ΔFv/Fm' was only observed in older cultures. We conclude that pre-akinetes are crucial for the aeroterrestrial lifestyle of Zygnema.

Exploration of nuclear DNA markers for population structure assessment in the desmid Micrasterias rotata (Zygnematophyceae, Streptophyta)

Freshwater green microalgae are diverse and widely distributed across the globe, yet the population structuring of these organisms is poorly understood. We assessed the degree of genetic diversity and differentiation of the desmid species, Micrasterias rotata. First, we compared the sequences of four nuclear regions (actin, gapC1, gapC2, and oee1) in 25 strains and selected the gapC1 and actin regions as the most appropriate markers for population structure assessment in this species. Population genetic structure was subsequently analyzed, based on seven populations from the Czech Republic and Ireland. Hudson's Snn statistics indicated that nearest-neighbor sequences occurred significantly more frequently within geographical populations than within the wider panmictic population. Moreover, Irish populations consistently showed higher genetic diversity than the Czech samples. These results are in accordance with the unbalanced distribution of alleles in many land plant species; however, the large genetic diversity in M. rotata differs from levels of genetic diversity found in most land plants.